The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) COVID-19 Response
ONS staff from the Health Analysis and Life Events Division explain how important census data is in our response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
We spoke with Jonny Tinsley, Head of Data, and Dr. Vahé Nafilyan, Head of Cross-cutting Analysis in the Health Analysis and Life Events Division at the ONS. They describe how they used census data, combined with mortality data, to uncover inequalities between different groups in COVID-19 mortality.
They explain how they used 2011 Census data to create mortality statistics, which they linked to death registration data. This allowed them to find out about factors such as ethnicity and religion in relation to COVID-19 mortality rates.
They will use Census 2021 data to continue to monitor the effect that the pandemic has on people’s lives.